An extract from Coven Working: How to Set Up or Join a Working Coven by Philip Wright and Carrie West.

Although this topic is not relevant to a beginner and those working the solitary Path, it is nevertheless, an old chestnut that has to be trotted out, if only to set the parameters of what is, and what is not, acceptable behaviour as far as new-comers are concerned. To reiterate the point made in the first chapter [Coven Working], if anyone mentions anything about sexual attitudes, even on the most casual basis, at the first meeting … be on your guard.

To put things into perspective, magical tutor, Mélusine Draco wrote an article entitled ‘You’ll Have Somebody’s Eye Out With That!’ for one of the pagan magazines, and an extract from this has been included here with the author’s kind permission: “Just as the occult world settles down again, along comes another member of the dick-happy tribe who has decided to inaugurate his or her own peculiar brand of sexual shenanigans under the guise of religious worship. And this time it’s Tantric Wicca! Now Tantra, as we all know, is a system of Oriental mysticism, combining the powers of Shiva and Shakti, in order to ascend to the highest level of cosmic Oneness. Wicca, on the other hand, is a modern amalgam of a European fertility cult whereby the God and Goddess join together for the purpose of procreation on a mundane level. This is not to say that one system is better than the other – merely different.”

Another magical tutor went a stage further: “Putting these two systems together is, of course just yet another absurd modern hotchpotch of pseudo-mysticism, invented for the sole purpose of the ‘master’ screwing as many gullible idiots as often as possible.”

An experienced teacher of Tantric techniques was, however, a little more restrained. “No sex magic – of whatever persuasion – can be done until the personal work is carried out first. This means death: death of the old, of prejudices, habits, relationships that you love, home, job, your life – everything.”

Most experienced teachers would be wealthy indeed if they’d received a pound for every genuine enquirer, male and female alike, who have asked in all seriousness, whether they really have to have sex with the high priest/ess, master, adeptus (or any other magical title) in order to be initiated. “I’m still astonished when it happens, yet it seems there’s one born every minute,” continued a Wiccan tutor. “Find yourself one of these Mystic Masters and you’ll find some sad git with a personality disorder, pretending to teach esoteric knowledge – but only after you’ve been initiated, of course.”

Where it is perfectly true that power can indeed be passed from one person to another sexually, most of us would seriously question if that’s what was really going on when an aged and wrinkled crone or ‘master’ insists that sex, regardless of whether it’s termed magical or otherwise, is the only way for a young and naïve seeker to learn. Furthermore, this shouldn’t be going on with a new-comer anyway … but this is where they are extremely clever … and this brings us to the subject of peer pressure.Most tutors who have had to pick up the pieces have heard just about every permutation of sexual coercion, and although we can give you a dozen reasons why you should not submit to peer pressure – the ‘master’ will have his well-rehearsed responses – all guaranteed to heap scorn on the warnings. We will be portrayed as hide-bound moralists; sexually repressed and unable to worship the Old Ones in time-honoured tradition. You will be told that the only way to express your spiritual freedom is by throwing off the chain of inhibition and embrace the god/dess in sexual union.

Whilst we appreciate that it’s not always that easy to back out, especially having allowed yourself to become ‘involved’, it is not unusual for a student to be flattered by the attentions of a tutor. And an invitation to visit may seem like a natural progression in the teaching process – even if the offer of initiation appears a trifle premature. These doubts will be silenced by the assurances that since you’ve made such tremendous strides in your studies, the tutor feels it would be unwise to impede your advancement. This of course, involves taking a combined First and Second Degree lumped together – with a bit of the old Great Rite thrown in for good measure. The venue for this mystical experience is often the corner of some darkened field that is forever England, and the ‘secret’ ritual, more than likely, is a blow-job on the back seat of a car!

Here it should be stressed as strongly as possible – there is nothing wrong with sacred sex. There are a tremendous number of sexual undercurrents in any of the Traditions … Wicca is based on an ancient fertility belief, for example … but these require years of study before putting any of them into practice. Anyone who offers any form of sexual initiation to anyone with only a rudimentary experience of magical working – in any Tradition – should be avoided like the plague!

Predatory males and females are nothing new - both within Craft and without - and the pagan camps of the 1970s were a celebration of the new-found freedom of expression of the time; a revival of good old-fashioned, medieval paganism. The AIDS pandemic cooled things down quite considerably but there was a different morality back then – both within Craft and without. Nevertheless, those traditionalists among us who have considerably more than twenty-years experience under our collective Old Craft cords strongly object to accusations frequently levelled against those who were fully-fledged witches when these modern-day critics were still in nappies. MD